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Copyright © 2006 by Manfred Pfluegl. All rights reserved.

Dec 10, 2006 - Jan 6, 2007

Aconcagua

Normal Route without Expedition Company

by

Manfred Pfluegl

Keywords: Argentina, Andes, Aconcagua, Normal Route, Los Puquios, Camp Confluencia, Base Camp, Plaza de Mulas, Camp Canada, Camp Nido de Condores, Camp Berlin, 6958m, Plaza de Francia, tourist, travel trip report, travel log, travelogue.

Index

Other Resources


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Introduction

This is a travelogue and trip report from our ascent of Aconcagua via the Normal Route. Our ascent was successful and we reached the summit on Dec 27, 2006. We prepared and arranged the logistics ourselves and did not use an expedition company. We did use a mule service from Puente del Inca to base camp Plaza de Mulas and back. The travelogue is written in diary form and separates the “emotional” from the “logistical”. The emotional portion covers our state of mind, our hopes, and our fears. The logistical portion provides very basic information for people who also might want to do Aconcagua on their own.

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Oct 25, 2006 — Who?

This web page or blog is about our experiences. Originally it was entitled "Aconcagua 2006 – Pfluegl Brothers". So, who are the Pfluegl brothers? That's 2 of us. Franz and myself Manfred. We are just two average people with average capabilities trying our best to reach the summit more than 2 months from now in January 2007.

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Oct 26, 2006 — Realizing a Dream

Climbing Aconcagua is a 2-year old dream. This blog should capture the last months of turning this dream into reality. This journey will break many records and be part of many "firsts". So far I already experienced a lot of emotions ranging from plain fear and nightmares to confidence and feeling good about myself. On certain days I am afraid something bad might happen, like loosing toes or worse. It caused me several sleepless nights so far. But the more I train the more optimistic I become.

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Oct 27, 2006 — Life is Too Short (by Franz)

The decision was right, I did it together with Manfred one year ago, and want to take this challenge. But it is very hard for me to adapt it in my daily life. There are many needs especially in physical condition, and I have to change my life style and my daily routines. But this is very hard for me. I am driven by my business. But I am also driven by this challenge. So I have to do both. And I will have to reduce my part in business. The most challenging thing, is to use my available time in the best way. My mind and my head is always thinking of this and the already very near future expedition. This is a good school for all my life.

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Oct 29, 2006 — Workout

Photo: Manfred on the Elliptical Exercise Machine

As part of the preparation for the climb I am working out on a elliptical exercise machine. The tough part is that the workout is with a backpack full of water bottles weighing 20kg (44lbs).

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Oct 30, 2006 — Time Flies

I just looked at my records and it was back in September 2002 when I first started collecting information about Aconcagua. That was more than 4 years ago. How time flies.

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Nov 1, 2006 — 420 Sets of Stairs

The best workout is often the simplest. Today I "worked" the staircase of our building for 3 hours. We live on the sixth floor. I took the elevator down and climbed the stairs of six floors. Then I repeated the exercise over and over again. In 3 hours with 21kg in the backpack and the heavy boots I was able to climb a total of a bit more than 420 floors, roughly 1,000 meters in altitude. It was painful because of the load and my back was aching a tiny bit. I will try to perform this exercise now every other day. It will be painful, but hopefully a great preparation for Aconcagua.

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Nov 4, 2006 — I got Panic (by Franz)

Photo: Elliptical Exercise Machine of Franz

Today I got panic that I would not be able to do the mountain. In my desperate feeling I bought a cross training machine. I hope I can train during work time in my studio.

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Nov 5, 2006 — Sweat and Blood (by Franz)

Today I have trained hard. 1 hour in the gym. 1 hour running in cold weather. 1h45min on the cross trainer at home. Total 3h45min.

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Nov 6, 2006 — More Stairs

Photo: Manfred

Today I did my third 3-hour session in the staircase of our building, climbing 6 floors up, taking the elevator down; again with the usual 21kg on the back. This time it was a bit less painful and unpleasant. Looks like I am making a tiny bit of progress.

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Nov 8, 2006 — Step by Step

I continue with my one-day-off-one-day-on routine with each training session being 3 hours. Today I incremented the weight by 3 kg, putting a total of 24kg on my back. The stairs in our building are such a good workout that already of the first set of 6 floors I am sweating. The heart rate at the end was high (it was so high I couldn't quite catch up measuring it). Somewhere close to 180, but that was due to the final end sprint doing the last 12 floors faster than normal. The heart rate dropped to 120 within a minute.

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Nov 9, 2006 — Equipment and the Ordering Process

Today finally the mail order company where we purchased all of our equipment has sent the vast majority of the order. Everything except the sleeping bags where handed over to the USPS (US Postal Service) today for delivery to Spain. I am anxious to receive the 5 boxes. They are supposed to take 7-10 days to arrive. Since it has to go through customs and thereafter I still need to forward half of the items to my brother in Austria it is getting close to our deadline. I am nervous and will remain nervous until we both have our stuff in-time and without any loss.

The sleeping bags will (so they say) be shipped on Nov 20. More reasons to be worried.

I am sorry to have started the ordering process so late. I placed the order on Oct 17 thinking that this would be enough for our Dec 10th departure date. But with all sorts of unexpected delays it is clear I should have done the ordering at least 3 months before departure date and not just 2 months before.

But with luck it will still all work out, but by ordering earlier I would have saved myself a lot of worries and stress.

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Nov 10, 2006 — Countdown

The final count down started. Exactly and only 1 more month to go. The final time to train and prepare.

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Nov 11, 2006 — Different Stairs

I changed the venue. Instead of using the 6 floors of stairs in our building today I exercised in the building where my car is parked. This building has 9 floors. One cycle takes me exactly 5 minutes, 4:10 to climb 9 sets of stairs and 50 sec to take the elevator down. I did 3 hours and a total of 36 cycles, i.e. 36*9 = 324 floors in 3 hours. That is somewhat more than 1,000 meters in altitude gain.

And to spice it up I added again 3kg to my backpack. I carry now 27kg on my back. If I include my 2.6kg boots and my 0.4kg clothing, I carry a grand total of 30kg. Still even 27kg is little in comparison to my calculation that we two have to carry 90kg in total, that is 45kg each.

To make things worse we will have to carry this weight (27kg or a bit more) at half the oxygen.

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Nov 12, 2006 — Stairs: Over and Over Again

Photo: Manfred

Another workout with 27kg on the back. At the beginning of the workout it is killing me, but once the workout is over I feel elated - like on endorphines. I do the workout slow, nearly 1 second per step. The pulse is at 120 for most of the time. The last 36 floors I performed an end-sprint that brought the pulse to 160.

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Nov 16, 2006 — The Bad News

First my daughter was sick with fever, then my son, and now I have fever too. 38C. It could be worse, but I feel bad and because of that today for the first time I missed a training.

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Nov 17, 2006 — The Good News

All the equipment from the mail order in the US has arrived today. Nothing was misplaced, nothing was broken, nothing was stolen, all sizes were correct, etc. And it arrived pretty quickly. It took only 7 calendar days to arrive in Spain and only 2 days to get it through customers.

I ordered from Great Lakes Outfitters (www.greatlakesoutfitter.com). They ship to Europe for a fixed price. Once the packages arrived in Europe, customs sent me by post paper slips requesting the invoice and to collect the packages. In the customs office they informed me that 2.7% are due for import rights and that an additional 16% must be paid for VAT. So, in total I paid 18.7% of the invoice total and then they handed the boxes over without opening or inspecting them.

Photo: 6 boxes worth $4,000

After spending 2-3 hours getting the boxes, today I checked everything carefully and put name tags on the items. I have all my equipment ready, only a couple of items like batteries are missing.

Photo: Look at the Size of the Sleeping Bag

The sleeping bag is quite big, I was surprised. How will we carry all this stuff up the mountain to 6,000m I wonder.

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Nov 23, 2006 — Home Made Solutions

My main worry regarding the cold temperatures are my feet. The are many "normal" solutions. Carrying more weight and the hassle of supergaiters I do not like and overboots are not suitable for Aconcagua as there are good chances that a significant stretch has to be climbed without crampons. So, how to keep my feet warm? I spent hours on this subject and came up with this home-made solution. I hope it will work: Let's just hope it also works and the whole set-up keeps my toes from getting frost bites.

Photo: Avoiding Frost Bites

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Nov 24, 2006 — Hallelujah

Alleluia! The backpack containing my stuff has arrived safely in Vienna. I sent it via airline transport and yet it took 15 days to arrive. I was more than worried that it might have been lost. I guess I am paranoid, always expecting the worst and worrying about everything. I literally had several sleepless nights. I had taken me a long time to collect all the items -- 15kg in total -- in the backpack. Its loss would have been a major setback for me.

Some other nightmare stories I have read in Aconcagua travelogues:

As you see, I will continue to worry. There are still so many things that can go sour.

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Nov 25, 2006 — 1000m Stairs (by Franz)

I feel guilty. I have not worked out since last Thursday. First computer problems then extra work. Today it cost me twice the energy to get started. With 20kg backpack and boots I walked up the stairs. One trip to the top floor are 20m. Therefore I needed to "climb" the building 50 times. I got little breaks in the elevator on the way down. After a third of the distance the shoulder hurts. After two thirds of the distance I am tumbling a bit like a drunk. The coordination and control over the feet is waning. Then the big thirst hit me. The arms felt a bit cut off and lacking circulation due to the weight of the backpack. The very last trips up the stairs I was walking like in trance, my thoughts were solely on a refreshing apple juice. After 2h45min I finally finished the 1000 altitude meters.

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Nov 26, 2006 — Countdown: Only 2 More Weeks!

Only a few days left for preparations.

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Nov 27, 2006 — Like a Feather

Due to fever and back pain I lowered the weight to 17kg and then I did a workout with 20kg. After the forced break the 20kg feel like a feather in comparison to the 27kg I carried before. Like a feather is an exaggeration, but certainly it feels manageable.

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Nov 29, 2006 — Final Testing

All has been purchased now. All equipment is ready and most of it is packed already. I tested the stove several times, I programmed 40 waypoints into the GPS, I slept in the sleeping bag on our terrace making sure there is enough room for my boots as well, I used the sleeping pads and made new extra-long straps t o make sure that both sleeping bag and the 2 pads can be strapped to the outside on the top of the backpack.

Today I even shaved my head. That should save another 10g in weight. I am just joking. I did not shave it for Aconcagua, more for fun, but having short hair will be an advantage in an environment where I won't shower or wash my hair for a month.

The final workouts are as usual: 3 hours of stairs with 20-23kg in the backpack.

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Nov 30, 2006 — Expectations

Going into this expedition I have little real-world experience in this kind of mountain life-style. Having no matching past experiences does not prevent me from having plenty of expectations.

Here are some of my expectations:

I also have some positive expectations:

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Dec 10, 2006 — D-Day

Photo: Manfred's Stuff Ready for the Airport

Day zero. Franz is already sitting on a plane or at least he is at the airport in Vienna. My plane leaves in 3 hours. I want to take my last shower and eat some cake to celebrate my wife's birthday.

I have 3 pieces of luggage – 30kg in total – ready. One duffel bag and one box with the 4 sleeping pads and a sleeping bag to be checked in and one small backpack to be carried on board.

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Dec 11, 2006 — Like Clockwork

The Emotional

Everything worked perfectly. I met up with my brother Franz at the airport in Madrid, we saw the heavily snow-covered Aconcagua from the plane sparkling in the early morning sun, the plan arrived on-time in Santiago de Chile, no luggage was missing, an intense sun and 30 degrees C were welcoming us to the Chilean capital, a cab took us to the right bus terminal, and only 30 minutes after arriving at the bus terminal a minibus left with us on board heading for Argentina. This gap of 30 minutes we used well by eating cheeseburgers and downing a coke -- healthy food for mountaineers. We also bought bread and jam in a bakery. At that time we did not know yet bread and jam should be our only food source for the next 48 hours. Dry bread and jam three times a day awaited us: for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Only minutes ahead of our bus, a terrible accident happened on the mountain road close to the Chile-Argentina border at 3600 meters. A truck lost his brakes on the way down, collided with a minibus and the force of the impact swept both of the vehicles off the road and down into the ravine. Both vehicles were upside down. On this Andes road one can talk about luck that it did not happen in the steeper section. Despite this chilling reminder of the possibilities our string of luck continued. Argentinean customs was quick and did not open any of the pieces of luggage and the driver was kind enough to drop us off in Los Puquios, right in front of the “camp site” of the Rudy Parra mule services. On the way, from the bus, we got today's second glimpse of Aconcagua. It can briefly be seen from the main road connecting Santiago, Mendoza and Buenos Aires. Now, the peak was covered in clouds and white winds. Not a day for summiting.

Emanuel, an employee of Rudy Parra, was informed about our arrival which astonished me (in a positive sense) since I had confirmed this arrival date by email more than four weeks ago. That left behind a very good first impression of a formal, business-like behavior.

First things first: we put up our tent and a few hours later we enjoyed the star-set night sky before we sunk into our sleeping bags. I couldn't believe it when Franz told me that this is his first night in a tent in his life! Wow! Where did he grow up?

The Logistical

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Dec 12, 2006 — First Experience of the Strong Winds

The Emotional

Today's first stop was at the Andinist cemetery. It is just across the road from our tent. Reading the inscriptions I was close to tears a couple of times. A natural reaction, I'd say. We spent a full hour at the cemetery looking at most of the graves. This is a somber mental preparation for the Aconcagua climb. For physical preparation we climbed the hills north of Los Puquios. We followed the river on its western side for 3 hours – as far as we could. At a place where the river came out from under a snow field we had to turn around. A mule trail crossed the river here but for us it was impossible to cross – too deep and too fast is the water. It was even too deep and too fast for a mule. It was dead, lying there ten meters below the crossing, and smelling unpleasantly of rotten flesh. I surely hope that the mule that will carry our equipment across the rivers in a few days will be luckier. We returned to Los Puquios in time for a “lovely” bread-jam-and-water dinner.

At sunset the sky turned dark with clouds. Fear of possible rain made us hurry to the tent to dig a water irrigation system to channel any possible rain fall away from the tent. What impressed me most today were the strong winds. Both, on the hills as well as on the camp site the wind is howling, nearly without stopping. It blew my cap off my head several times and I learned that it is a good idea to tie the cap to the backpack with a cord. Even the round, slim trekking poles were resistance enough for the wind, so that the wind could pull and push them around. I do not even want to think what it is like at Nido de Condores or at the Portezuelo de los Vientos, high up on the mountain. It must be frightening.

The Logistical

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Dec 13, 2006 — Stress

The Emotional

We had arranged with Emanuel that he takes us to Puente del Inca at 9:30am to catch the 10am bus to Mendoza. First Emanuel wasn't around at 9:30 so we walked to Puente del Inca. Second, when we came to Puente del Inca there was no bus at 10am heading for Mendoza. The next bus was at 11:45. The last bus return-bus leaves Mendoza at 18:00 and with the bus ride being 3.5 to 4 hours finding out that the earliest bus leaves at 11:45 was a bummer to say the least. In order to get to Mendoza earlier we tried hitch hiking. A trucker picked us up and brought us all the way to the Mendoza Omnibus Terminal. On the way we stopped at a trucker stop for lunch. It was extremely tasty, not to mention cheap: a US$3 all-you-can-eat restaurant. At 3pm we arrived in Mendoza and the race against time started.

We spent 1h on getting the Aconcagua permit (getting there, filling out the form, paying for it). Then we did speed shopping: 25kg of food (45 bags of soup, 8 boxes of breakfast cereal, 12 bars of chocolate, cans of fish, etc.) in 1h 15min including the 15min wait at the check-out line. Thereafter we raced to Orviz to buy last-minute gloves and snow stakes. 10min we spent in an internet café to send the first life-sign home. Still sweating from all the running we hopped on a taxi to drive back to the bus terminal, to make it to the bus gate at 5:55pm. It was stressful but we made it. From the 3 hours in Mendoza we needed every minute. I could finally relax as the bus pulled out of the terminal. At night, under the star light, the bus dropped us and our 25kg of food off at Los Puquios.

The Logistical

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Dec 14, 2006 — Packing

The Emotional

Now that we have everything (55-60kg of equipment, 5 liter of fuel, 25kg of food [for 2 people]) we started organizing and separating the stuff to be carried by us versus the stuff to be carried by the mule. This preliminary sorting took us 4 hours. Time flies and as we finished sorting it was time for lunch. It was 2pm before we finally left for a walk. We set our goal on a snow-covered ridge north east of Los Puquios. As we got closer to the ridge the slope got steeper and steeper, mainly on scree. This was a first exposure of what would expect us at the Canaleta [the steepest portion of the Normal Router, close to the summit, where many people turn around]. Minutes before reaching the ridge I voted for turning around since I did not want to take any chances. Franz outvoted me with the words “It is only 15 more meters”. We reached our set goal, but of course behind the ridge was just another ridge further on. As reward for making it to the snow and up the final channel, we had our first hot dinner: soup.

The Logistical

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Dec 15, 2006 — Cristo

The Emotional

Today's exercise was to hike up to Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer, Christ the Savior) – a statue close to a mountain top. In summer time a dirt road – starting at the village and former custom station of Las Cuevas – goes all the way up to the statue. This dirt road is destroyed every winter and every spring time it is reconstructed by bulldozers. Today the upper part of the road was still covered by snow and ice. We underestimated the mountain. The wind was as always howling and it was freezing cold. I had to use socks as improvised gloves. Near the top, at the border of Argentina and Chile is a 12 meter tall statue of Christ, placed here in 1904, and transported by mules. It should act as a symbol of peace between these two nations. As if having little faith in the duration of the peace, both militaries built a structure right next to the statue. The statue is at 3832m and located at a former mountain pass that centuries ago was the main route from Santiago de Chile to Mendoza, Argentina.

The Logistical

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Dec 16, 2006 — Stupidity

The Emotional

At night I had to get up and pee. In order not to get cold I ran. I stumbled and twisted my ankle. What stupidity! All night long, every time I turned, I checked to see if the pain in the ankle was less, but it stayed the same throughout the night. While I spent the night unhappy due to my damn accident, my brother spent the night sleepless due to the wind that shook the tent. My brother's problem was easy to fix. In the morning we safeguarded the tent with eight big rocks to prevent it from flying away under gusty winds. My problem was harder to fix. There was little I could do to fix my ankle. The only thing was to walk with a lot of attention and to avoid any uneven steps or steps that put extra strain on the ankle. Since Cristo Redentor is a flat and easy ascent, we did it again. Inside the boot the ankle didn't hurt as long as I stepped on it without tilting to the right or left. Today's ascent was with a dog and his two puppies. They joined us as we left Cuevas and made it to the top with us. On the last 50 meters of elevation we had to push hard against the wind. Like yesterday the camera died just after a few photos – too cold and too windy. The camera worked at 6000m in the past, so it was sad to see it give up at just 4000m.

The Logistical

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Dec 17, 2006 — A Third Time

The Emotional

Sometimes I think the three favorite pastimes of Franz are: eating, sleeping and taking photos (not necessarily in this order). Yesterday we got to bed at 8pm and we got up at 8am. After these 12 hours of sleep he still felt fatigued and tired. There is nothing better than cold winds to whip this fatigue out of you. For the third day in a row we did Cristo Redentor. This time we did it extra fast.

Every day to and from Cuevas we see the Aconcagua for a few brief moments from the bus. We always check the visible weather. So far, from down here half of the days seem to have good weather. The excitement is rising. Our preparation phase is over. Tomorrow we plan to start the trek towards Aconcagua — the “real thing”.

The Logistical

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Dec 18, 2006 — It is Tough

The Emotional

Today we are starting our Aconcagua approach. In two hours we had everything packed. We enjoyed the last breakfast with milk and bananas. We handed two duffel bags to the mule service and were driven to the Aconcagua National Park entrance which is just a handful of kilometers west of Puente del Inca. At 12:00 noon sharp we started our hike at the ranger station. On the first few hundred meters we had to re-arrange our backpacks twice to find the best carrying position for the pads and sleeping bag. In only 2 ½ hours we reached Confluencia, the first and lowest camp. I was surprised. I had expected – from reading other travelogues – this part of the hike to take 4 hours. The joy over the good time lasted little. We had to carry heavy stones to make the tent resist the strong winds. My brother blacked out for a second and tumbled forward. I was also lightheaded. I couldn't understand it. We were only at 3300m and I felt a bit dizzy. Why? The last three days I was at 4200m and did not feel anything. Putting up the tent in this wind and blowing dust was work. Cooking wasn't any easier. Getting a match or lighter to light the white gas in this wind wasn't easy. Then we had to cook and eat standing. It was humbling. It is really tough to do without a wind shelter. The wind was wearing me down and inside I was crumbling a bit. Most people consider me tough, but today I feel weak. Already the first day of this life style is getting to me. And many more days – worse than this – are awaiting us. The constant wind is what kills me most. How will we live at 5000m? Putting up the tent and cooking is what worries me. At this moment of being depressed I have my doubts about reaching the summit. Now I know why people pay good money to companies to have the luxury of wind shelter, a chair, a table and even a bed. Sitting down while eating must be true bliss.

On the way up we see a mule in a line of mules with a loose rope. The mule gets its feet entangled and at the same time it is tied to the mule in front of it. At the same time it is pulled by the front mule as well as entangled by the rope. It is nearly falling and sliding a few feet down the scree. Somehow the mule makes it through this dangerous moment.

At Confluencia we also had a medical check-up – included together with the rescue helicopter in the permit fee. Nothing special, a bad soar throat, no fever, and normal oxygen level for this altitude. My brother has low blood pressure and a pulse of 60. This year we brought a small medical kit and made regular use of it. We took sleeping pills every night starting in Los Puquios and thought of them to be quite helpful. Today I took my first pain killer and gentle anti-inflammatory. The continuous bloody nose and blood-mixed mucus from my throat is unpleasant but expected. I always seem to get it on high mountains.

The Logistical

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Dec 19, 2006 — The Wind

The Emotional

We are here now in this region for a full week and the wind is blowing relentlessly. Today we move to base camp Plaza de Mulas. The Horcones Valley seems endless if you have to walk it with a heavy backpack. At least the views of some nice peaks make the day enjoyable. The rest is not so fun: gusty winds, back pain, etc. There was no river crossing other than the one on the official bridge. One bridge yesterday, one bridge today, but we never used our sandals.

In the late afternoon we reach Plaza de Mulas (Base Camp of the Normal Route) and settle next to a small frozen lake with bizarre snow and ice formations on its surface. We have two rare hours without wind. We hurry to use this opportunity to put up the tent and cook. Base camp Plaza de Mulas is pretty much empty. There is just one tent close to ours. It is occupied by a lady from the US. It is her third time here. We admire the fact that she is by herself. Her goal is to get as high up on the mountain as possible in pure Alpine style, i.e. without additional intermediary camps. She seems to have several amenities: satellite phone and iPod amongst them. Individual tents at Plaza de Mulas are rare. There are many empty group tents, but I guess in all of Plaza de Mulas are no more than a handful of individual tents. The American alpinist told us that this would change soon as it gets warmer.

The Logistical

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Dec 20, 2006 — 5000 Meters

The Emotional

To acclimatize and to exercise we climbed Colle Bonete. With 5004m it is another 5000m peak for us. The hike it quite easy and having the summit in front of you nearly all the time of the ascent keeps you motivated. The climb is scrambling up scree and crossing sections of “penitentes” up to 3 meters tall. Penitentes (literally repenters in English) is the name given to bizarre stalagmite-like ice formations typically in a shape with many spikes. Colle Bonete is SWW of Plaza de Mulas and looking from the park ranger cabin towards the hotel it is the peak in the back, between two other peaks in the front. The very last part of the ascent is a counter-clock-wise circle that makes one approach the summit from the north.

Back in Plaza de Mulas we talk some more to our American neighbor. She tells us about a tent that was torn to shreds in base camp last week. She also tells us that winds of up to 160 km/h made summiting impossible all last week. It is not surprising. We can only hope for better weather. I am still amazed though by how few people there are on the mountain. On the hike from Puente del Inca to Confluencia we met only one other guy heading up. On our second day from Confluencia to Plaza de Mulas we only met one French couple. On our third day – today – heading up Colle Bonete we crossed with six other people. It is very calm in base camp: No crowds, no noise, nothing; like a ghost town.

The Logistical

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Dec 21, 2006 — I am Not Loving It

The Emotional

How do I feel? At best I have mixed feelings. I know that at the end when all is over and time has passed I will love it. But at the moment I am not loving it. My handkerchief is full of blood, I spit blood to clear my throat, swallowing hurts all day long, my back hurts, my ankle still hurts when I turn my foot sideways, and mentally I know that nobody made it to the summit in the last ten days due to wind and cold. The wind is always blowing and moving dust clouds from here to there. The dust is in the soup, in the tea, in the pot, on our skin and in the sleeping bags. Not only I did take a beating over the last days. Both Franz and I have a bent trekking pole, the wind bent a tent pole and ripped a tent cord, and the brand new pot is lacking lots of its original Teflon coating.

Today we planned a carry from Plaza de Mulas to Camp Canada. Through my dumbness things should turn out different than planned. On the trail we met about five crews on their way down. Not a single one had made it to the top. All turned around at Camp Berlin (the highest camp) due to cold and wind. Some say one needs crampons, others say they are not needed. The most viable information seems to be coming from a porter who told me that it had snowed a lot between Berlin and summit during the last days and that there is snow in the Canaleta and that crampons are necessary.

Very few people were heading up the mountain. Today I counted ten. Blissfully I follow the scree slopes where I see people or paths. After 3h15min I found it a tiny bit strange that we had not reached Camp Canada and that it is not yet in sight. Uncertain, I asked the next guy on its way down about the camp. He responded that the camp behind the ridge is Nido de Condores. I follow up, “Nido? And where is Camp Canada?” His words were “Oh you passed it. Camp Canada is down there.” Oh well. Change of plan, today we will carry a load to Nido instead of Camp Canada. Reaching Nido de Condores, the wind kills us. It is terribly strong. We hastily eat a snack and weigh down the two small backpacks with about a hundred kg of rocks. We hope to see them soon again. They hold a big portion of our food.

The Logistical

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Dec 22, 2006 — Hope

The Emotional

We do our second carry; this time from Plaza de Mulas to Camp Canada. On the way up we meet a French couple and an Argentinian/British pair who had reached the summit yesterday. They told us that after ten days of wind yesterday morning there was little wind, that the Canaleta is without snow and one couple did the traverse with crampons and the other without. I was happy for them and it brought hope to me to meet the first person who reached the summit. The Americans we met yesterday and the French we met today were at the same place (Camp Berlin) at the same time (yesterday morning). The Americans turned around because of the cold (I assume they spent a terrible night at Berlin) and at the same time the French took their chances climbing higher and were lucky to get the first day with acceptable winds. Fate distinguished between these two groups.

As we reached Camp Canada we argued back and forth if we should continue to Nido. Eventually we decided to leave the stash in Canada. Now we have most of the food in Nido and most of the clothing and equipment in Canada. As we got back to our tent in Plaza de Mulas I realized a dumb mistake I made. I had left the fuel bottle valve open and about an eight of a liter of white gas had run out. This is my second dumb mistake after tripping running to the toilet. Since the stove was in the luggage compartment of the tent the error had little consequences.

There is very little spare time on a trip like this. This is our eleventh day and so far there was no time to be lazy and kick back doing nothing. There is always something that needs getting done: getting water, cooking, forcing yourself to drink, packing, unpacking, repacking, preparing, etc. About the drinking: The more you drink, the more liquid your blood gets, the more oxygen it can carry, the more you adapt to the altitude. Or in other words: If you drink little, the blood will be thick and you adapt little to the altitude. One should drink 4 to 5 liters a day. That is easier said than done. Initially we drank 3 liters a day. Starting in base camp we drank 4 liters a day and on an occasional day we may have reached the 5l mark. Drinking 4 liters is not easy, certainly not for me. I had to force myself every day to take another cup, another sip. Sometimes I even felt like vomiting after so much drinking. And with so much fluid intake another good advice is: empty the pee bottle at every opportunity you get.

The Logistical

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Dec 23, 2006 — Snow Flakes

The Emotional

For the first time we experience the cold. The sun is covered by a cloud and does not come out until 11:30am. That means breakfast in the cold. Weather predictions for the next two days are “shitty, clouds and winds up to 70km/h”. During breakfast a few snow flakes fall but as we transfer our tent from Plaza de Mulas to Camp Canada all is fine, i.e. little wind and mostly sunny. In Canada melting snow awaits us. We need about 4 liters for dinner for our daily intake. Formed from rocks there is a tiny fireplace close to our tent. We get a 30-liter bag of snow and start the process. As we have about two liters of hot water it starts snowing and our bodies reach the point where we cannot take the cold anymore. We wisely decide to continue cooking inside the tent. We carried the sizzling stove as is into the fore-tent and sat down inside the tent on the pads. We listen to the snow flakes hitting the tent as we spend a total of 2.5 hours making 4l of hot water. I think today was the last time we cooked in the outdoors. From now on everything will be a notch more serious. I take a sleeping pill to not hear the howling wind.

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Dec 24, 2006 — Wind have Mercy

The Emotional

As the sleeping pill wore off we woke up around midnight. The wind gusts shook the tent and flapped the surfaces. The wind made a hell of a racket, the poles bent scarily. We had to lie down on the edges like paperweight to avoid the wind ripping the tent from the stakes. When it got real bad we supported the poles with our hands. What a night! We did not sleep much.

After a frightening night we also had little things to fix during daytime. Both the closures of Franz' backpack broke. Then one of his trekking poles broke into two pieces. With ingenuity, little rocks and tape we fixed it again.

Today's task was to perform a carry from Camp Canada to Nido de Condores. The wind was so aggressive that on a few occasions it made you stumble. At Nido it was unbearable: forceful, gale-like and bitter cold. There were about four people at Nido and later a company of 12 would arrive. We stashed our stuff and I yelled at my brother “let's get down I cannot take it much longer”. We ran back to Canada where the daily routines started: getting snow, melting it, cooking, repairing broken trekking poles, etc. In comparison to Nido, Canada is like heaven: a little sunshine and once in a while a windless moment. A handful of hikers share Camp Canada with us tonight. Like on traditional, romantic Christmas Eves it is snowing gently. We have no special Christmas dinner, we have no gifts; it is an evening like many others. However, I have a special Christmas wish: Let the winds have mercy on us!

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Dec 25, 2006 — A Partial Wish Come True

The Emotional

The winds are relenting a bit. It is an average day for us. We spend 2 hours making 4 liters of water in the morning, and another 2 hours making 4l in the afternoon. Camp Canada – when we leave it at noontime – is nearly empty. Only 3 tents are left. We transfer to Nido. Most of the people seem to be here, some 18 tents in total. While Franz takes care of the logistics at high camp Nido (preparing the inner part of the tent, getting snow, cooking, etc.) I carry a load to Berlin. There is only a single tent at Camp Berlin. Surprise. One person is there, an Argentinean. He is an employee of an expedition company. As he is about to put up a tent for tomorrow for two clients I help him and we get to talk. He tells me that the weather forecast for tomorrow is so-so and for the day after tomorrow – Dec 27 – is good. That is excellent news. It is like music to my ears. It fills me with optimism. As I walk back down to Nido I get all fired up as this piece of news bounces through my head without stopping. “The day after tomorrow we have good weather.” In my euphoria and boundless optimism I tell myself that in two days we will be standing on the summit. As I reach our tent in Nido I share the good news with my brother. I deliberately chose more realistic words as I share the information with him. Instead of telling him that in my opinion in two days we will be on the summit, I tell him that the weather prediction for the 27th is good and that we should accelerate our ascent plan, skipping one day of acclimatization, in order to take advantage of this window of opportunity of fair weather. Our default plan was two nights at Nido and our first attempt on the summit on the 28th. Spending one night less at Nido would not have significant repercussions on our adoption of the altitude. We agreed to the change of plans. Tomorrow we will go to Berlin, the day after tomorrow we will make our first attempt on the summit.

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Dec 26, 2006 — Getting Ready

The Emotional

We transfer from Nido to Camp Berlin. The load is a killer. It is painfully heavy. We have three backpacks in total. We thought about going twice, like yesterday. While one cooks the other could get the third backpack. It worked great yesterday. Today, however, we decide on carrying everything at once. As we walk uphill and suffer under the heavy load I regret our decision. Maybe it would have been smarter and easier for one of us to go twice. Anyway, here we are, stuck with 3 backpacks on the mountain. Franz is not complaining. I admire him. He is taking it and dealing with it. I am whining and nagging for a moment. We pass the third backpack back and forth, so both of us get to “enjoy” it for a while.

The weather is not good and not bad, just as predicted for today. There are some clouds and the wind is medium strong. In the evening we have a lot of preparation to do for tomorrow's planned summit attempt. We need to prepare the dinner, we need to prepare the breakfast and we need to prepare all the gear and clothing we plan to use on the ascent. It will be a long night, relatively speaking, full of little chores. We start by having dinner: a frozen can of sardines. I gather two full 30-liter plastic bags of snow. This should give us enough water for both dinner and breakfast. From 5pm till 9pm – for 4 full hours – we are melting snow, 8 liters of precious H2O. Four liters we drink for dinner in form of soup and tea. The other four liters are filled into thermos, Nalgene and PVC bottles. The Nalgene and PVC bottles are placed into our sleeping bags so that the water would not freeze at night. The hot Nalgene bottle has the side effect of acting like a hot-water bottle, adding extra warmth to the sleeping bag. In the morning we just needed to heat the water rather than melting snow. This would save us a lot of time. The last task of the day was to prepare the ascent gear. We got the down jacket ready, filled the pockets with the gear (spare gloves, GPS, etc.) and food (energy bars, dextrose tablets, etc.). All the clothing we planned on wearing we placed inside the sleeping bag (socks, balaclava, etc.) so that they would not be freezing cold tomorrow morning when we had to put them on. At 10pm we had everything ready and organized. We took our customary sleeping pill and went to bed.

In preparation for Aconcagua we had both bought the warmest sleeping bag money can buy. Rated at -40C (-40F) it would turn even a night at Berlin into an acceptably warm and comfortable experience. I had spent plenty of nights freezing in thin sleeping bags in my life. I did not want that to happen here on Aconcagua. Our new sleeping bags delivered what they promised. So far we were warm every night, me more so than my brother who occasionally needed hours to get the sleeping bag heated up. Tonight – the highest we had ever spent – was no difference. We were warm and with the help of the sleeping pill I slept well.

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Dec 27, 2006 — Today is the Day

The Emotional

Besides us at Camp Berlin is one company with about 8 tents. I hear – better said overhear -- the guide get up at 6:00 or 6:30am to inform someone from his team that they are not making a summit attempt today because it is too windy. Selfish as I am, I don't tell anything about this to my brother. When Franz gets up at 8am, he asks “We aren't really going, are we?” I explain to him, “We are really going. This is a serious attempt. We go with the full intention of making it to the summit today. If we are forced to turn around then at least this was a serious final test of all the equipment and our strategy. Hence, it is serious. If we make it to the top, excellent. If not, we still win by testing our timing, strategy and equipment.” He was ok with that and took it serious.

You can plan as much as you want, the morning or night you step out of your tent you will make some last minute changes. In my case, I changed my complete set-up of foot protection. I decided to wear only one thin pair of liner socks, my boots and above my self-made insulated gaiters. Absolute madness! I know. So cold, so few socks. Most people wear two pair of socks (liners and high-tech insulating socks) with vapor barrier liners in between. That was also my original plan. But in the stir of the moment I throw all the plans overboard and decide on wearing only thin liner socks and nothing in addition. In order to adjust my feet's warmth comfort level I had worn on purpose only thin liner socks up to now. During the last days my feet froze a little, I moved my toes a lot and after an hour I would be okay again. I traded special Polartek socks and vapor barrier liners for lots of air and freedom of movement inside my boots. It was a big gamble in the last moment, but I thought that if the thin-socks-only strategy worked for me up to 5800m, it would work up to 7000m as well. Reducing my toe movement capacity due to thick socks didn't feel right.

Talking about clothing I am a strange person. In order to prepare for the cold on the mountain I always wore as few layers as possible, always being on the limit of being cold but never really suffering from the cold. I would dress to be cool, even cold for brief minutes, but never truly cold. E.g. my long thermo underpants and Goretex pants stayed in the backpack until summit day. Always dressing as little as acceptable I made it up to Camp Berlin (5800m) in the same thin hiking pants that I wore at the Bilbao airport when I left Spain. The thermo shirt with no extra layer got me up to 4300m. Today – on summit day – I am wearing 3 lower body layers (thermo long johns, think hiking pants, think Gore-Tex over-pants) and 4 upper body layers (long-sleeved thermo undershirt, second long-sleeved thermo undershirt, fleece, down jacket).

At 10:20am we start. Remember, we are always late, summit day is no exception. A Swiss lady points in the direction of the peaks and watching the clouds states in neutral voice “very windy up there”. “Yes, nonetheless we give it a try.” With these words we make a step forward and leave Berlin. We are on our own. Nobody else leaves Berlin. Minutes into the hike I throw away my self-made insulated gaiters. Since they made the boots slightly wider the material was touching the rocks and walking felt a touch uncomfortable. Our strategy for today was “light and simple”. We purposefully decided not to bring ice axe, crampons or daypack/backpack. I remembered the French couple that summited three days ago and did it without crampons. There we were on the mountain: boots, Goretex pants and down jacket. Inside the down jacket – spread over the various pockets – we carried everything: Left upper inside pocket – 1l Nalgene bottle; right upper inside pocket – thermo; right lower outside pocket – 24 unwrapped dextrose tablets, 4 energy bars unwrapped and ready to eat; right lower inside pocket – 4 additional energy bars still wrapped; inner side pocket – GPS, spare batteries, summit banner; left inner pocket – spare socks, spare gloves; left outer pocket – chemical hand warmer, chemical foot warmer. My brother carried in addition a camera. That was all, truly just the essential, no unnecessary ounce of weight.

We walk at our usual pace. Reaching Refuge Independencia, aptly named “dog house”, we know we have done half of the distance; we also know that the more difficult half is still ahead of us: the Canaleta. It took us 2h20min to Independencia and we reward ourselves with a 30-minute break to drink and eat. Up to here was no snow, just plain rock and dry scree. As we reach the crest within sight from Independencia we have for the first time full view of the Traverse and part of the Canaleta. Here at this crest the snow and ice started. As we carefully cross the Traverse our decision not to bring crampons is validated. Crampons might have been useful, but they are not needed. Today the Traverse can be handled without danger in boots as long as one is careful. Now we enter into the Canaleta. This is the most famous and infamous part of Aconcagua. The Canaleta is a steep channel of loose scree that leads to the summit ridge. It is an elevation gain of 300 meters and with the oxygen level being at 50% compared to sea level, this steep section is respected by mountaineers. My mind is somewhere else. I don't really think about the Canaleta. I just put one foot in front of the other and try making secure steps, steps where I don't slide downwards, steps where I don't put my still-hurting ankle at risk. The Canaleta is in a state of half snow and ice, half scree. In the middle of the Canaleta we take another 20min break to drink and eat. The rest we walk slowly without breaks. Some small portions of the Canaleta pass under overhanging walls. Small loose rocks come down. In the upper part of the Canaleta I need more breathing breaks than my brother in order to keep my heart rate low and not over-exert myself. I tell my brother to go ahead, to not wait for me. We find three Japanese climbers in front of us. Franz distances himself from me, 5 meters, then 10, then 20. Everything up here happens slowly. We pass the Japanese, one at a time. As Franz passes the second, I pass the first. I feel normal and strong. Franz is some 80 to 100 meters in front of me as the Canaleta becomes less steep and we have a ridge not far above our heads. It is really close and I assume (but don't know for sure) that it is the summit ridge. Franz disappears around a turn. Five minutes later I see him again. He is waving and has the biggest grin on his face. I could see this smile all the way through the balaclava. I know what that means. He is standing on the summit. A hundred steps later – or in time 5 minutes later – I join him on the summit. We made it! We are both standing on the highest point of this planet outside Asia. One Japanese is there with us in the initial moment. The two other Japanese – all coming from the Polish Glacier Route – arrive shortly. Five people made it to top today. Franz tells me hours later that on the last hundred meters when he saw the third Japanese directly in front of him he all of a sudden got ambitious and accelerated hard to pass even this third Japanese to make it to the summit first.

We are excited and happy, yet calm as we stand on the snow-free top next to the summit cross. We had left at 10:20am. Now it is 5:00pm. The Japanese had left within less than 5 minutes after arriving on the summit. This is understandable. It is late. Most people set their turn-around time at 4:00pm. It is significantly past 4pm. The weather is good and it was good all day long. We can see as far as our eyes allow us to see. There is blue sky everywhere. This gives us the confidence to calmly – without rush and hurry – enjoy this special once-in-a-lifetime moment. We are alone up here and the whole world is at our feet. For a complete hour we stay at the summit. We jump up and down with joy and we take loads of photos. We indulge in the achievement. It is a form of celebration. The sun is shining and the wind is at a minimum. Nonetheless it is freezing. The camera works perfectly (unlike at windy lower elevations). I had prepared two banners – simple pieces of paper with an inscription. It was time to get them out and have photos taken with them. One reads “Inma te quiero” (Inma I love you) as a simple and direct message to my wife who tolerated and accepted this 4-month project and is right now at home taking care of our two kids while I am up here doing a victory dance at 6958m. The other banner reads a very factual “Pfluegl Brothers, Aconcagua 2006”. It just covers the “who, where and when” in the minimum amount of letters. We took photos of about everything: each one solo, both of us together via the delayed action shutter, the surrounding scenery, panoramic views, and the summit cross.

The descent is uneventful. We walk slowly, primarily because Franz keeps on taking pictures and secondarily for safety. The sun sets as we reach White Rocks. The weather is still fine and even though it is late we are not worried. We are only minutes away from our tent. Even after sunset there is still light, enough light for walking. We reach the ridge from where we can see Camp Berlin and our tent in twilight. As we descend the final slope towards the camp it is really getting dark. It is shortly before 10pm as we arrive at the tent. Since Franz is the more energetic one, he is put in charge of cooking soup. One pot of soup is enough for me. I am tired, it was a long day, now I just want to sleep.

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Dec 28, 2006 — The Day After

The Emotional

The most glorious part has been accomplished, now comes the equally important but less celebrated part: getting off the mountain. I slept acceptably well and got up at 8am to make breakfast. The people from the expedition company got up at 6am today and headed for the summit one hour later. The weather looked even better today than yesterday. New people arrived at Berlin as well. A well-equipped Basque team arrived and communicated that tomorrow would even be better than today. Even the weather was good, I prefer to get down rather than spending another night close to 6000m. We start packing and late as always – 12:30pm – we leave Berlin with a really heavy pack. All the spare food we brought to wait out any bad weather was a curse now. The weight was bad from Berlin to Nido. At Nido we had to add more weight from our stash. Now the weight was terrible. I definitely dislike stepping and sliding down a pile of scree with more than 30kg on the back. I hate the downward sliding, I hate the weight, and the combination of the two I hate even more. As we got closer to base camp Plaza de Mulas my knee hurt more. I wished the ordeal was over soon. At 5:30pm my wish came true and I dropped the backpack in our old tent space in Plaza de Mulas. The place had changed. It was noticeably warmer. There would be no more freezing water and pee bottles at night. There was no wind or almost no wind. The small frozen lake with its 1-meter high snow and ice sculptures had melted and converted itself into a plain-water lake. Before the day passed away we have just enough time left to put up the tent and celebrate a little bit. The celebration is modest. We put a frozen can of sardines into the sun to thaw, we indulged in toasted bread with ham-paste and cheese, and for dessert we delighted in mango tea with specialty chocolate mini-cakes from Mendoza.

Today was possibly physically harder than yesterday. Without doubt it was by far more unpleasant than yesterday. Having experienced both now, I'd trade going up for going down anytime.

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Dec 29, 2006 — Rest Day

The Emotional

Everything is an effort now. Getting up, putting on the boots, reaching for the chocolate cereal, all seems to be work now. My preference would be to just sit and not move. Luckily today is rest day (our first) and we can just do some of that: nothing. We complete part of the formalities with the rangers. I have a really bad sunburn, most likely the worst of my life. Blisters and open blisters with their orange liquid decorate my face. I get a disinfectant and antibiotic crème in my face to help heal the burn. On summit day I figured that with balaclava and sunglasses no skin would be exposed to the sun, but the time during which we took photos was apparently enough for my sensitive skin to get terribly burned. I should have known better and put sun lotion. Today was also time to look after our other little “wounds”. We add wound disinfectant to our fingers where the flesh is open and exposed along the finger nails. Apparently we both cut our finger nails too short and the exposure to cold and dry air made the skin break open along the finger nails.

Since I have the desire to be lazy and also a tiny bit comfortable we walk the 30 minutes to the Refugio hotel – highest hotel in the world. There we buy post cards and take our time to write them sitting in the sunshine outside the hotel. I also place that all important call to my wife.

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Dec 30, 2006 — Moonshine Walk

The Emotional

This is a day of surprises, too many surprises. We are getting lazier by the day. By nature, i.e. as always, we leave the camp the last, but today we beat our own record. We leave Plaza de Mulas at 1p.m. The first part from Plaza de Mulas to Ibañez is as usual, but the valley starting at Ibañez has gone through a metamorphosis in the last two weeks. The mostly dry river bed has changed into a small raging river. A few green plants just a few inches tall have shown up. An area that was grassy on the way up is now a swamp. In a specific section the river smashed against the steep valley enclosure and cut our way off. We were faced with three options. First option: wading through the river. Since the river is typically no more than knee deep, wading through the river is the normal action. You put on your sandals and within a few minutes you have crossed this section. With our limited intelligence and not having used the sandals on the way up, right now our sandals were inside a duffel bag on the back of a mule several hours down the mountain from this spot. Second option: we could try squeezing by. We tried walking along the slope that fell steep into the river. The slope was so instable – full of loose rocks of all sizes – that with about every third step we took rocks came sliding down. Since some of the rocks were rather large I am worried that we might cause a rock avalanche and get buried below a mountain of scree. As we move slowly forward I get more and more worried, not to say afraid. Meters on I vote in favor of turning back. Third option: walk around the hill. After trying option 2 we try option 3. In hind sight the third choice was not the best choice, but still is what we did. It takes us more than two hours to walk around the hill, burns a lot of our energy and advanced us only 500 meters in the valley. In addition it turns out to be as dangerous as try to squeeze by. We need to scramble up – on all four – a 50 degree slope of loose gravel, rocks and boulders. This was a lot harder than the Canaleta and my heart was pounding because of worry. Two hours later we have to make it down again, on an even steeper slope. I am glad when it is over and I safely stand in the valley once again, and this time with the river far on the other side of the valley. These were the scariest moments of the entire trip.

My knee starts hurting again. The pain made it impossible to walk normally or at normal speed. Many factors combined (the late start at 1p.m., the 2 hour detour to avoid crossing the river, the knee problem) resulted that we are far from our destination as the sun starts to set. Slowly, very slowly it gets dark. The stars come out and start to shine. A three-quarter moon shines brightly from the cloudless night sky and its glow lights our way. The valley is flat where we are and we could put up the tent or just the sleeping bags about everywhere. It is without doubt more charming to camp here than in Camp Confluencia; nonetheless I want to make it Confluencia, the less charming but more practical place. Making it there tonight will save us a lot of time tomorrow. So, we keep on walking. For more than two hours we enjoy a romantic moonshine walk. The moon guides us safely to Confluencia where we arrive shortly before 11p.m.

We had not eaten since breakfast, we are hungry. First dinner, then the tent. As we slip into the sleeping bags we both fall asleep instantaneously.

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Dec 31, 2006 — Pain

The Emotional

Today we hike to Plaza Francia, located on the foot of the South Face of Aconcagua. This is a side trip from the main trek. The path follows a different valley and is significantly nicer than the valley to Plaza de Mulas. It is nicer for scenic considerations but also because there are generally no mules destroying the foot path. The river forming the valley is partly clear and the valley slopes are home to a few small plants. According to a park ranger Inca ruins are located on a side path, but the rangers prefer them to be unvisited and undisturbed. Eventually the river turns into a glacier and the South Face in the horizon is creeping a bit closer. After three hours we reach the lookout point where most companies break and turn around. From here are magnificent views of the steep icy southern face of the mountain. The actual Plaza Francia is two hours on, right at the foot of the mountain where the glacier begins. The glacier does not have the shiny white color as typical glaciers, instead it is covered with dirt, dust and rocks and for the most part is black and dark brownish. The rocks have more colors here than in some other places: white partially transparent rocks, white with a touch of pink, green-blue rocks that break into rectangular shapes and other white rocks that are pulverized by the heat and resemble chalk at first sight.

Plaza Francia is a bowl, protected from the wind and filled with soft dirt. When you walk to the far edge to look outside the bowl, staring directly at the glacier and the wall of the South Face you feel differently. I feel like standing at the end of the world. I know that from here on there is nobody – it is an inhospitable terrain. There is nothing out there anymore, only the unwelcoming rough glacier and the hostile mountain wall. I have to luck to witness an ice avalanche crash down from an overhanging stretch of wall. It crumbled into a million pieces and shattered over the black glacier like sprinkles of white sugar. There are no tents, no service and no water at Plaza Francia.

The return hike – nothing out of the ordinary for other people – turns into a personal odyssey for me. Once again my left knee starts hurting. First it hurts badly and as time goes by it hurts excruciatingly. I can't use my left knee anymore. It starts by not being able to bend it and soon I can't even stand on the left foot anymore without nearly screaming of pain. I use my trekking poles as crutches as much as I can. I intend to walk without using my left foot. It is slow going, it is painful and we are one of the last people on the mountain. However, I have no choice other than hopping as fast as possible forward. It is late already and the sun would set before I reach the camp site. If I take a break or slow down – I know – the pain would not go away; but it would get dark and everything would get more difficult. The longer I take, the longer I would be in pain. I hopped and hopped for hours and bit my lips in order not to cry. One of the handful of people still on the trail who caught up with me was a guide. He gave me a strong single-dose pain killer. As I walk and hop I have more time than desired to think and worry. I see no chance of me walking tomorrow. We had planned to get off the mountain and to Los Puquios tomorrow. I see this as impossible now. Instead I see myself several days at Confluencia recovering – not something that I desire or see as inviting. On the last 30 minutes to the camp the pain killer sets in and I feel less pain as I climb the last meters toward Confluencia. Arriving at the camp I walk straight to the medical assistance office. The doctor takes a lot of time to look at all aspects of my knee. He rules out ligament and meniscus problems. Apparently it is a torn muscle connecting to the knee. Very painful but no permanent damage. I am relieved and happy again. He gives me even stronger pain killers and orders me to see him again for breakfast.

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Jan 1, 2007 -- Under the Stars

The Emotional

New Year's Eve has passed without a celebration. We have cookies and chocolate. Does that count as a celebration? New Year's Day starts with a visit to the camp doctor and more strong pain killers. “It is just 90 minutes, with the pain killers you can do it” are his words. It is a 3-hour period of painful hiking, but I am very glad that I can walk at all. Yesterday I was certain that I would not be able to walk today. I am happy that I was wrong. After the 3-hour hike we reached the Laguna de Horcones Lake. When we saw it on the way up, it was barren and cold. Now it looks like in spring time: warm, inviting, lush, green and soft. This is the only green and lush spot anywhere near Aconcagua I have seen. It is a scene for the picture book.

Meters behind the lake is the ranger station and the park entrance where all the formalities are closed. Last year (2005/2006) 40% of all the people buying a summit permit and entering the park made it to the top; a total of 1400 people that summited successfully. This year we had the fortune to reach the summit and experience both sides: how terrible the cold winds can be in high-camp and how nice a summit day with sunshine can be. We are happy.

Emanuel from the mule service company picks us up and brings us to Los Puquios. We had not thought about it, but since it is January 1 all shops are closed and we cannot buy the long desired bread. In Los Puquios I take immense pleasure in two things: I can sit down on a chair, and I can do so in the shade. To compensate for the 2-week-long low food intake we eat 5 packages of soup that are supposed to feed 20 people in total. Thereafter as second course we spoon a large family-sized chocolate bar that had melted in the sun. As dessert we had some dried prunes. With the stomach full we start the chore of separating the items and packing the duffel bags again. I fill a 21kg duffel bag and still have some 9kg of random stuff lying around. With a bit of re-organizing that should fit on the plane and their 20kg limit of check-in and 10kg limit on carry on.

It is very windy again, warm winds though. This fact combined with being lazy leads me to suggest to not bother putting up the tent. It would be simpler to just sleep in the sleeping bags under the stars. Said, done. It was a great idea. After more food, i.e. dinner, we go to bed at midnight. It is lovely. It is warm, the wind pulls gently at the sleeping bag, the stars are up and above us, and the moon wanders slowly across the night sky. To make it even more perfect it is full moon. The moon is first up and visible; disappears behind a mountain peak and then re-appears on the other side again. Within half an hour we witness a full moon setting and a full moon rising. Fantastic!

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Jan 2, 2007 -- Bus to Chile

The Emotional

The information we get is very confusing. “There is no bus.” “The bus is full.” “The bus has left already.” “You cannot make a bus reservation by telephone.” “Yes, the reservation is made.” “You have two seats reserved.” Under the assumption and hope that all will work out we packed everything and Emanuel hurried us to Puente del Inca. Unexpectedly all happened so suddenly. For days I wanted to buy an Aconcagua T-shirt and this was my very first opportunity to do so. Just as I am talking to the stall owner I hear my brother shouting my name with urgency. I come running. The bus has stopped on the road and was about to pick up somebody else. I quickly spoke to the bus driver and explained that we had called their office several times and that on the phone we were promised the last two seats on the bus to Santiago de Chile. The driver seems convinced and instead of the other person (without reservation) we get on board – sadly without desired T-shirt. The bus is full and I feel so lucky and privileged that we are on it. If the bus had not stopped we would have hitch-hiked which would have been a lot more cumbersome. The border crossing to Chile took an hour and a half. Around here the landscape was still the same: rocks, rocks and rocks. As we move on again I relax and take a nap. As I wake up the landscape the bus drives through at 90 km/h is like the Promised Land if you have seen only rocks for three weeks. Green large vineyards mingled with fruit tree plantations. The scenery makes me forget the worries from this morning when I thought we have to wait a second day for a bus to Chile. Inner calm enters me and I am pleased to see so much green. We drive through the rolling hills and slowly approach Santiago. From the bus station we take a taxi to the hotel and by the time we reach our humble hotel room it is 10p.m. Luck continues to follow us and we find a supermarket that is still open at these hours. All the delicious food items of the modern world are available to us now. We buy a complete grilled chicken, cooked rice, tomatoes, a can of string beans, milk and yogurt and rush back to the hotel room with our mouth watering. Here we prepare a feast. A towel on a duffel bag acts as table, the two beds act as chairs. We start digging into the food and splurge until midnight. With the stomach full we drop over and sleep.

The Logistical

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Jan 3, 2007 -- Celebration and Being Tipsy

The Emotional

We are sight-seeing on foot in the capital of Chile. We feel lazy or tired or both. As we climb the 50-meter hill of Santa Lucia we feel it is a significant effort to get to the top. The physical energy reserves have been used up over the last weeks and the mental dedication has vanished too. We are like the average John Doe who has to “fight” to make it to the top of the little hill.

At night we prepare another little food celebration in our hotel room: grilled chicken (left-over from yesterday), sweet corn, tomatoes, rice and two bottle of local Chilean wine. Having consumed half a bottle I feel the wine in my head and notice how it slows my thinking, but I am dedicated to finish the bottle. By the time I finish the chicken, lick my greasy fingers and take the last sip to empty the bottle, I am already in another semi-world. Minutes later I am deep asleep.

The Logistical

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Jan 4, 2007 -- Gluttony

The Emotional

One activity occupies our day: eating. We overdid it I am afraid. We go to La Vega, the big market of Santiago. La Vega is the biggest market I have ever seen anywhere in the world. It is gigantic. Primarily it is a fruit and vegetable market, but they really have everything here: meat, poultry, fish, restaurants, food stalls, detergents, containers, etc. A lot is sold wholesale in large quantities but there are plenty of stalls that sell by the kilo. As we stroll through the aisles we eat a little here, a little there, and at a restaurant we order three plates (hurritas the traditional Chilean corn dish, beef with mashed potatoes and a lentil dish). Before we know it we are so full that we literally could not eat one spoonful more. Sweat pearls form on our foreheads and the stomach starts to emit pain signals. We are so full we can't move. We have to sit down again and breathe heavily. Our stomachs actually hurt; it was not funny anymore. We consider taking a taxi to the hotel so we can lie down. Instead we slowly and heavily breathing walk to the Mapocho Station that is near-by. There we first visit the public rest-room and then we lie down for more than an hour to rest and give the stomach an opportunity to digest. We feel a bit better thereafter, acceptable enough to walk to the hotel to continue the rest there. I always have to go to extremes: first we live on little food for weeks and today we overdo it with humongous amounts within a single morning.

The Logistical

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Jan 5, 2007 -- Flying Home

The Emotional

Today is our flight back. Right after breakfast we head to the airport. We use the perfume testers at the airport duty-free store to add a bit of a pleasant smell to our rough appearance. We are unshaven and with the same pants that we wore on departure. A bit of positive, pleasing scent will not be harmful. Smelling well does not prevent the airplane from having a defect though. There is a hole in the airplane and the pressure loss requires it to turn back to the departure gate. We get a free snack for the inconvenience and with four hours of delay we finally take off.

The Logistical

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Jan 6, 2007 -- Being Home

The Emotional

I arrive with perfect timing to a ready-set lunch table. Still, all I can think about is eating. My daughter requires my attention every ten seconds – she is compensating for not having seen me for weeks. Together we realize one of my tiny “when-I-get-home-I-will” dreams: we bake whole-wheat bread and a chocolate cake. I take a shower, shave and sit down at the dinning table with wife and kids: now I am truly home.

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Reflecting about Aconcagua

Surely all mountains are different, surely all mountains have their own beauty. The beauty of Aconcagua in summer time lies in the surrounding snow-covered mountains, it lies in the convenience of proximity of camps as most camps are just 2 to 4 hours apart, it lies in the bizarre ice formations of the “penitentes”, it lies in the very rare occasion that one can find a plant. Juicy green Alpine meadows would be the precise contrary to the dusty, brown rock desert of the Aconcagua. To get closer to Aconcagua one has to walk for days on crumbled rocks. I have heard the phrase that Aconcagua is a 7000m heap of rubble. On the Normal Route this exaggerated and sarcastic description is true. Aconcagua for the most part is a pile of scree. Still there are many reasons to come here. My personal reasons for being here are: I am sorry to say that the mountain is of little beauty to me; but I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. At least beauty and natural splendor were not amongst my reasons to come here.

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Reflecting about My Travel and Climbing Companion

At the end of the trip, after knowing all the facts, I am certain that I could not have chosen a better travel companion than Franz, my brother. After our initial extra 5 to 6 days of physical preparation he was as fit as I, or at least as fit as necessary for the task at hand. He acted as work horse and despite his back and spine problems he put up with as much weight and load as I. He was as tough as needed, adjusted wonderfully to the uncomfortable lifestyle in the base and high camps, and was satisfied with the simple, repetitive and scarce food during the ascent. He complained hardly ever about the little and not-so-little pains, inconveniences and unpleasant matters such as living in a 2 by 1.5 meter tent for weeks at temperatures below freezing. I know he prepared little at home, but he came through a hundred percent. He even reached the summit 5 minutes ahead of me. Finding a travel mate is always hard, even more so for being in a harsh environment. The companion has to be a personal fit and he has to match the challenge, Aconcagua in this case. Franz was the best travel and climbing buddy I can imagine. He is certainly not like me. He likes and knows how to enjoy, above all food and the scenery through the lens of his camera. He likes to sleep long. He likes to stop and smell the roses. He is more balanced. I am an extremist. I have one goal and one goal only and I am willing to do (about) anything to reach this self-set goal. “Enjoyment” and “smelling roses” become irrelevant for me in comparison to reaching the primary goal. Despite our differences we made an even and balanced team, always acting in harmony. What I appreciated most, even admired, is his capability to accept new, difficult situations and deal with them without complaining; to see the facts behind the situation and to tackle them without whining. I'd say we have made an excellent team.

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Firsts and Personal Records for My Brother and Me

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What I Missed Most on Aconcagua

While being on the mountain, living in a tent, immersed in the high-camp life style, this is what I missed most on Aconcagua

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Mistakes Made

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Logistic Summary

DayDateFromToEnding AtAscent per dayDescent per dayFromToEnding At
112-Dec-06270029002700200200Los PuquiosNearby HillLos Puquios
213-Dec-0627002700270000Los PuquiosMendozaLos Puquios
314-Dec-06270030002700300300Los PuquiosNearby HillLos Puquios
415-Dec-0632004200320010001000Las CuevasCristo RedentorLas Cuevas
516-Dec-0632004200320010001000Las CuevasCristo RedentorLas Cuevas
617-Dec-0632004200320010001000Las CuevasCristo RedentorLas Cuevas
718-Dec-0629003400 5000HorconesConfluencia 
819-Dec-0634004300 9000ConfluenciaPlaza de Mulas 
920-Dec-06430050044300704704Plaza de MulasColle BonetePlaza de Mulas
1021-Dec-0643005300430010001000Plaza de MulasNido de CondoresPlaza de Mulas
1122-Dec-06430049504300650650Plaza de MulasCamp CanadaPlaza de Mulas
1223-Dec-0643004950 6500Plaza de MulasCamp Canada 
1324-Dec-06495053004950350350Camp CanadaNido de CondoresCamp Canada
1425-Dec-06495058005300850500Camp CanadaCamp BerlinNido de Condores
1526-Dec-0653005800 5000Nido de CondoresCamp Berlin 
1627-Dec-0658006958580011581158Camp BerlinSummitCamp Berlin
1728-Dec-0658004300 01500Camp BerlinPlaza de Mulas 
1829-Dec-0643004300 00Plaza de MulasPlaza de Mulas 
1930-Dec-0643003400 0900Plaza de MulasConfluencia 
2031-Dec-06340042503400850850ConfluenciaPlaza de FranciaConfluencia
211-Jan-0734002900 0500ConfluenciaHorcones 
 Total:   11,61211,612(All numbers in meters.)  

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